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TRP: Raef and Griffin (Fireworks)
Mink: at 7:58 PM Same as the other channel. After leaving Mishka, Raef had slipped off to take a shot or two or three. He had had every intention of seeking out Griffin right away, but he had lost his nerve, which he felt was an entirely unwarranted feeling. He was 321 and it wasn't as if he was proposing...but his stomach still twisted nervously and his heart hammered far too hard in his chest. He ran his hands through his hair, letting out a shuddering breath of air. He could do this -- he could -- Lanterns flickered too life and a soft song began. His brow furrowed in confusion at the scene coming to life until it dawned on him that something was happening...a perfect something. Raef steeled himself before he took the steps to the quarter deck, only pausing briefly when he reached the top step as he watched Griffin. He could do this... ...he swallowed and finally made himself walk over to get Griffin's attention. He held out a hand in offer and smiled. "May I have this dance?" Izzy: at 8:11 PM Griffin didn't really know any of these people except for Raef, and several of them had tried to kill him before. Well, so had Raef, but that was fair. And he'd hung out with Sugar and found her to be completely harmless when she wasn't shooting magic around. The rest -- eh. He really just wanted to spend time with Raef. But Raef had gone off to talk to the other elf -- the pretty blond one who, Griffin thought, was also seeing a half-orc -- and Griffin hadn't wanted to interrupt. (Seeing. Huh. He didn't know how to be more specific than that. What did that even mean?) Then Raef had kind of disappeared, so he'd wandered up to the upper deck at the back of the ship to overlook these relative strangers and be alone. He kind of missed Robin, which was something he'd never thought would happen. Hopefully he wasn't dead or anything. Then, some time after night fell, and the moon was reflected long and white across the bay, something happened. The air changed somehow, and lanterns flickered on all across the ship, and the tortle started playing a sweet, pretty song down below. And there was Raef, holding his hand out and asking for a dance. Griffin immediately flushed. Oh. Oh. He took Raef's hand without thinking twice, then didn't know what to do next. He didn't know how to dance. Not like -- elves did, and humans did. But he slipped close to Raef and rested his other hand at his waist, smiling and looking down at him, and hoped that was good enough. Mink: at 8:18 PM Griffin blushed and it made Raef's smile widen further; he always loved seeing the crimson tinge creep in. He never thought such a simple thing would make his heart flutter again. He slipped his free hand to Griffin's shoulder while his other wrapped around the one that had accepted his offer. Without a word, he guided Griffin into a gentle dance to the tune of Roddy's song -- he would have to do something for the Tortle for this night. His eyes never left Griffin's face, taking in all that he could. He had missed this - whatever this was...and..and however frightened he was, however worried he was, this was what he wanted. Izzy: at 8:25 PM Everything about this was just ... comfortable. Safe. Griffin hadn't known he could feel like this -- he hadn't grown up feeling it, hadn't found it with the thieves in Grimwood Forest. It was new, and it made his chest feel like it might crack open because it couldn't hold this -- he didn't even have a word for it. God, he had to keep his cool. Raef was so beautiful. So impossibly sweet and good to him, after what he'd done. He pulled him closer, resting his chin on top of Raef's head, and murmured, "I missed you, earlier." Mink: at 8:31 PM "I missed you, too," Raef whispered, resting his lightly against Griffin's chest. It wasn't a refined dance, if it could even be considered a true dance...and it didn't matter. All that mattered was the warmth beneath his fingertips and the half-orc within his embrace. "...I would have come sooner, but..." he couldn't think of the words. "...you make it hard to think." Izzy: at 8:40 PM Griffin almost frowned, thinking for an instant that Raef meant he'd done something wrong, but quickly realized what he was really saying. He felt himself blush more, somehow. He wished he had -- nice things to say. Dramatic things. Things worth saying to someone like Raef, who was so elegant and dangerous and unreal. He should borrow some of those books Sugar had. Maybe they'd give him some ideas. But it had worked out so far to say what came to mind. Not overthink it. Even when it came to the bad stuff. Things were just ... easy, somehow. So he didn't think about it too much, and just said, "Yeah, you do the same thing to me." Mink: at 8:50 PM At least they were on the same page, or he hoped they were. He didn't know...Griffin spoke little, precious little, but... Colored lights sprang into the sky and the air rang with the books of the fireworks, drawing his gaze upwards. They weren't for them, for someone else, but Raef still smiled. It was still so perfect. He drew back so he could slide his hand to the back of Griffin's head and he drew him down for a kiss, standing up on his toes to meet him half-way. "I want to ask you something," he said as the kiss broke, eyes searching Griffin's. Izzy: at 8:57 PM Kissing Raef never got old. God. It was enough to distract Griffin from literal explosions, fireworks not far away -- like they didn't even exist. The lights and sounds faded into the background, and all that was left, all that mattered, was the feeling of Raef's lips against his. He had to catch his breath for a second, and opened his eyes to find Raef's locked on his. It seemed serious, and again he had that moment of worry, of concern, that faded away. Raef wouldn't do anything to hurt him. He was sure of it. "Anything." Mink: at 9:02 PM Everything wavered for a moment and Raef was nearly certain he would lose every but of nerve he had scrambled for, but then the world flooded back into focus. "Will you..." Fuck...he wasn't a kid...but he had also never asked..."...will you...will you be mine?" Izzy: at 9:05 PM Griffin was confused. "Raef, I already am." Mink: at 9:11 PM It was Raef's turn to flush darkly. That wasn't the answer her was expecting. "You should have let me know," he teased, but he smiled warmly before he leaned back against Griffin, holding him close. I already am. He had never thought this would happen again in his life, never thought he would feel that warmth that whispered everything was all right... "Thank you." Izzy: at 9:34 PM Griffin laughed a little. All this, just for that? Raef was so goddamn adorable. Elves. He'd heard so many nasty things about elves as a kid, but in his experience so far, they were mostly ... tentative, and sweet, and ... sort of ridiculous. Maybe it was just Raef. Maybe it was because of -- what had happened to Raef. But he seemed like he was trying so hard to not be closed off, but he still missed things. He didn't seem to understand what it meant that Griffin had gone out to dinner with him, and taken him back home, and never questioned the fact that he'd never really left. He didn't seem to understand what it mean that Griffin had left everything behind and come with him on this ship full of strangers, and slept in his bed every night since. Griffin wanted him to understand. He took a breath, then stopped for a moment -- he'd been drinking. But not that much. He could get through this without making an idiot of himself. "When I -- there was this book I read, as a kid. We didn't have a lot of books that weren't in Orcish, but this one was in Common. I dunno where it was from, actually." He frowned. "Doesn't matter. It was this story. About how ... when the world was young, people were different. Um." He tried to find the words. It'd been a long time. "But they were happy. They were all happy. That was -- that my favorite part." He was embarrassed suddenly, but shifted to wrap both his arms around Raef's waist and kept going. "But the gods got angry and -- they split all the happy people in half. And that's what we are now. We're all ... half of what we should be." And that had been his least favorite part. "I don't think I was supposed to read that book, but I read it all the time. Because -- because at the end, everyone finds their other half again. And everyone's happy again. In spite of the gods. No one can stop them from -- from finding each other again and being happy." He swallowed. "I know -- um." He winced. "Raef, I know I'm going to die before you do. And maybe you'll find another half after that. And -- I think Az was another half, too. But I really -- I really feel like -- like right now -- this is all that matters. "We found each other, and we're happy. And -- I'm not gonna let anything, any god, and orc, anything -- nothing's going to happen to us. I'm not going to let anything split us apart again." He simultaneously felt like he needed to stop talking and say more, in case he hadn't made himself clear. "That's -- I just wanted you to know that's how I feel. In case you didn't." Mink: at 9:59 PM How long it took him to find his words, Raef didn't know. Twice in his life...twice in his life he got to have this...and yet Griffin didn't grasp what he felt, not truly. The half-orc gave him an eloquent tale of love, of finding that other half, but didn't realize that the feelings were echoed within the elf. "I think...I think I haven't been clear if you think I don't feel the same," he said with a smile. He shifted in Griffin's grip, placing a hand on the side of the half-orc's face, stroking over Griffin's cheek with his thumb. "I love you." Izzy: at 10:11 PM Oh -- what a relief. Griffin thought that he might have said too much, or sounded dumb, or -- or been too serious. That maybe Raef didn't feel that way at all, and he was just being over emotional (like Robin always told him he was), over attached, too much, too soon. But no. Raef ... loved him. Raef loved him. Griffin looked down at him for a moment, not quite sure what to do. Words were never enough. Words wouldn't convey the feeling in his chest, that feeling like fireworks. So instead he swept Raef up and held him tight, like he could press them back together into one body, kissing him hard until he had to break away to breathe, and hating that he had to be separated from him again even that much. Then he stammered for a second, and said, "I mean -- I mean, I love you too." October 28, 2018 Mink at 7:16 AM A painful few seconds passed as they looked at one another before the distance was closed and he was drawn into a kiss that stole his very breath. Raef twined his fingers in Griffin's hair, the soft locks winding between them, and he held onto the younger man as if he was drowning...perhaps he was drowning in the other, savoring every touch and every second that passed until the kiss was broken and his feet met the quarterdeck once more. Raef was aware he was too warm as he looked up at Griffin and he smiled at the stammered words. "Good." He played lightly with Griffin's hair before he leaned up to draw him into another kiss, this time pressing their bodies closer as his other danced down Griffin's side to grip at the man's clothing. He could never get enough of this, never get enough of the half-orc that had slipped his way into his heart. Izzy: at 7:50 AM He was still reeling, somehow -- from all of it, from everything that had happened over the past few months. Like it hadn't sunken in 'til now. Like it had all led to this moment, and none of it had quite been real until Raef had said I love you. Raef's hand fell to his side, fisting in his shirt, and a tremor went down his back as he was pulled into another kiss. He thought about picking Raef up again, just carrying him off, but it seemed -- presumptuous, and -- inelegant, and -- he didn't want to do this wrong. Everything had to be right. Like the fireworks, and the lights, and the music -- he just wanted everything about this night to be perfect. Life was short, for a half-orc thief but maybe for an elf assassin bent on revenge, too, and he just wanted them both to get as much happiness out of every second together that they could. He looked down at Raef for another long moment, trying to find the words, something romantic and sweet, but he flushed. He really couldn't think clearly. All that came out was a low, breathless, "Raef -- we should -- we should go to bed." Mink at 8:21 AM Oh...Oh. It was an unromantic and flustered thought that Raef wanted to chastise himself over. He was too old to be blushing, too old to have his heart racing away. He swallowed to focus himself and he smiled. "I think so," he agreed as he slid a hand to wrap around Griffin's and twine their fingers together. Mink at 8:52 AM - For Stuff Category:Text Roleplay